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Design Cycle

Significant milestones
FEA run on multiple cell shapes
Brainstormed multiple manufacturing methods
Prototyped 2 most promising methods

Tools Used
SolidWorks CAD Software
Cosmos/M FEA Package
CNC Machine

The Process
Our development process was quite simple. We visited our sponsor and walked throught the process of manufacturing a panel the way it is currently done. After this we sat down with them and talked about how the different methods we had brainstormed would work with the current material. In the end we decided on a method that was similar to their current process but streamlined many of the steps.

Problems/Tradeoffs Encountered
A problem we encountered was figuring out how to keep the material from sticking the sides of our mold when manufacturing. We overcame this method by testing the material with different surfaces to find one that it would not stick on, Teflon.